diff --git a/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go b/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go
index 7d54df1..c08ace4 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ import (
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -918,6 +920,84 @@ func TestPeriodicReconciliationAdoptsFileThatAppearsAfterStartup(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestEvictionTicksDoNotReconcile starts the eviction loop with an
+// interval of 10 ms. The startup pass reconciles before it removes the
+// expired negative cache rows, so once the expired row stored before the
+// start is gone, the startup reconciliation has made all its reads. The
+// test then waits for three periodic ticks, each seen when it removes an
+// expired row stored after the previous one went. The reconciliation
+// pass runs at startup and then once a day, so none of those ticks may
+// read a content table for reconciliation.
+func TestEvictionTicksDoNotReconcile(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	cache, _ := newEvictionTestCache(t, 1<<30)
+
+	var reconciliationReads atomic.Int64
+
+	cache.reconciliationReadTestHook = func(int) { reconciliationReads.Add(1) }
+
+	insertExpiredNegativeCacheRow(t, cache, "/startup.jpg")
+
+	cache.StartEviction(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	defer func() { _ = cache.StopEviction(t.Context()) }()
+
+	waitForNegativeCacheRowRemoved(t, cache, "/startup.jpg")
+
+	startupReads := reconciliationReads.Load()
+	t.Logf("the startup pass made %d reconciliation reads", startupReads)
+
+	if startupReads == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("the startup pass made no reconciliation read")
+	}
+
+	for tick := range 3 {
+		path := "/tick-" + strconv.Itoa(tick) + ".jpg"
+
+		insertExpiredNegativeCacheRow(t, cache, path)
+		waitForNegativeCacheRowRemoved(t, cache, path)
+	}
+
+	tickReads := reconciliationReads.Load() - startupReads
+	t.Logf("three eviction ticks made %d reconciliation reads", tickReads)
+
+	if tickReads != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("three eviction ticks made %d reconciliation reads, want 0: "+
+			"the reconciliation pass ran on an eviction tick", tickReads)
+	}
+}
+
+// insertExpiredNegativeCacheRow adds a negative_cache row for sourcePath
+// that expired an hour ago.
+func insertExpiredNegativeCacheRow(t *testing.T, cache *Cache, sourcePath string) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	_, err := cache.db.ExecContext(t.Context(), `
+		INSERT INTO negative_cache
+			(source_host, source_path, status_code, expires_at)
+		VALUES (?, ?, 404, datetime('now', '-1 hour'))
+	`, testHostExample, sourcePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to insert an expired negative cache row: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// waitForNegativeCacheRowRemoved waits up to five seconds for the
+// eviction loop to remove the negative_cache row for sourcePath.
+func waitForNegativeCacheRowRemoved(t *testing.T, cache *Cache, sourcePath string) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(5 * time.Second)
+
+	for negativeCacheRowCount(t, cache, sourcePath) > 0 {
+		if time.Now().After(deadline) {
+			t.Fatalf("the expired negative cache row for %s was not removed", sourcePath)
+		}
+
+		time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestStopEvictionInterruptsPassInProgress holds the test database's
 // only connection, so the startup reconciliation pass waits for it, and
 // checks that StopEviction stops that pass instead of waiting for the